|
Peter Michael Blau (February 7, 1918 – March 12, 2002) was an American sociologist and theorist. Born in Vienna, Austria, he immigrated to the United States in 1939. He received his PhD at Columbia University in 1952, and was an instructor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan from 1949–1951, before moving on to teach at the University of Chicago from 1953 to 1970. In 1970 he returned to Columbia University, where he continued to teach until 1988. From 1988 to 2000 he taught as an emeritus professor at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in the same department as his wife, Judith Blau. His sociological specialty was in organizational and social structures, in particular bureaucracy. He produced theories relating to many aspects of social phenomena, including upward mobility, occupational opportunity, and heterogeneity. He also produced theories on how population structures can influence human behavior. One of Blau's most important contributions to social theory is his work regarding exchange theory, which explains how small-scale social exchange directly relates to social structures at a societal level. He also was the first to map out the wide variety of social forces, dubbed “Blau Space” by Miller McPherson. This idea was one of the first to take individuals and distribute them along a multidimensional space.Blau-space is still used as a guide by sociologists and has been expanded to include areas of sociology never specifically covered by Blau himself. In 1974 Blau served as president of the American Sociological Association. ==Early life== Peter Blau was born in 1918 in Vienna shortly before the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was born into a Jewish family as fascist power within Europe grew and Hitler’s influence within Austria became increasingly evident. Hitler’s rise to power and WWII would impact Blau’s life tremendously, claiming family, culture, and nearly his own life. At the age of seventeen, Blau was convicted of high treason for speaking out against government repression in articles he wrote for an underground newspaper of the Socialist Worker’s Party. He was released shortly after his imprisonment when the ban on political activity was lifted due to the National Socialists’ rise to power. When Hitler arrived in Austria in 1938, Blau attempted to escape to Czechoslovakia. Both Blau and his sister—who was sent to England—managed to escape. The rest of his family, however, decided to stay Austria. Blau’s original attempt to flee proved unsuccessful as he was captured by Nazi forces and subjected to torture. Yet, he was once again released and made his way to Prague. With the help of his high school teacher, Blau obtained a travel permit to America in order to study, though he briefly had to occupy a French labor camp due to complications with his visa. He finally arrived in Le Havre, France where he received a refugee scholarship to Elmhurst College in Illinois through an American G.I. Blau emigrated to America in 1939 where he attended Elmhurst College, earning his degree in sociology in 1942, and becoming a United States citizen in 1943. Blau returned to Europe 1942 as a member of the United States Army, acting as an interrogator given his skills in the German language. He was awarded the bronze star for his duties, but it was during this time Blau also received word that his family had been killed at Auschwitz. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Peter Blau」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|